Three-dimensional printing of tissue/organ analogues containing living cells

Abstract

The technical advances of three-dimensional (3D) printing in the field of tissue engineering have enabled the creation of 3D living tissue/organ analogues. Diverse 3D tissue/organ printing techniques with computer-aided systems have been developed and used to dispose living cells together with biomaterials and supporting biochemicals as pre-designed 3D tissue/organ models. Furthermore, recent advances in bio-inks, which are printable hydrogels with living cell encapsulation, have greatly enhanced the versatility of 3D tissue/organ printing. Here, we introduce 3D tissue/organ printing techniques and biomaterials that have been developed and widely used thus far. We also review a variety of applications in an attempt to repair or replace the damaged or defective tissue/organ, and develop the in vitro tissue/organ models. The potential challenges are finally discussed from the technical perspective of 3D tissue/organ printing.